Following the name of the champion(s): Indicates the number of times the competitor has held that title at that point.
[...]
Indicates a gap in the listing where title changes are not known.
<
Title was held or changed hands no later than this. In these cases, it is known that a competitor held the title at a certain time but not when he/she won it.
@
Order uncertain. Different titleholders may be known for the same year, for example, but it is not known who held the title before whom.
#
Unofficial or disputable claims. These are usually matches that certainly took place, but where there is doubt that the competitor shown should be recognized as a true title holder. These listings are also italicized.
* Bolded letters in the competitor's name, if any, indicate the surname/family name.
Frank White
1879-07
Awarded the title when Dick Hollywood declines the challenge by White for the title (St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 80-12-04).
Jack Keenan
1885-05-18
New York, NY
Possibly a non-title match although Keenan claims the title afterwards.
Young Mitchell (Jonathan L. Herget)
1885-06-22
San Francisco, CA
Tommy Warren
1886-03-23
Mill Creek, KY
Defeats Tommy Barnes; still/again champion as of 87-02-09.
Paddy McBride
1889-06-11<
American 122lb champion.
Jimmy Lynch
1890-06-17
Bayville, NY
Most likely Bayville since newspaper articles say "Oak Point, on Long Island Sound" (The Philadelphia Inquirer, etc., 90-06-18).
Abe Attell
1910-01<
World champion, also holds the American Title (The Times-Democrat, New Orleans, LA, USA, 10-01-10); also listed as the American champion in the 1911 issue of Boxing magazine.
Johnny Kilbane
1912-02-22
Vernon, CA, USA
Listed as the world and American champion (The Wichita Daily Eagle, Wichita, KS, 18-01-02); also recognized as the American champion by NBA in 21-01 (The Decatur Herald, Decatur, IL, 21-02-07, plus several other papers).
